 Coolart Homestead will host a photographic exhibition that opens on Easter Sunday to celebrate the sister city relationship between Melbourne and St Petersburg. The exhibition will feature photographs from the old capital of Peter's and Catherine's Russia as well as rare images of from the Russian warship ‘Rynda’ when it visited Melbourne in 1888. Visitors can also admire the paintings from Maria Kononov, an acclaimed artist from Russia, who has caught the attention of the international art world at just 12 years old. Kononov’s oil paintings will be on sale at the exhibition and proceeds from her works will go to the Melbourne-St Petersburg Cities Music Exchange project. The exhibition marks the 20th anniversary of the sister city relationship between Melbourne and St Petersburg. Admission - Adult $8.50, Concession $6.50, Child $5.00, Family (2A+2C) $20.00 When: Sunday April 4 – Sunday April 30, 10am – 4 pm daily. Where: Coolart Wetlands and Homestead, Lord Somers Rd, Somers, Melway Ref 193J9 Admission: Adults $8.50, Concession $6.50, Child $5.00, Family $20.00 Presented by the City of Melbourne and the City of St Petersburg at Coolart Wetlands and Homestead, courtesy of Parks Victoria For more information call the Parks Victoria Information Centre on 13 1963 or visit at www.parkweb.vic.gov.au Add Comment  I sat and watched the sunrise this morning. It was not a spectacular sunrise and I think that suited my reflective mood. It was just the beauty of the new day emerging from night and as the small red glow, rose, a bright golden glow flooded across the recently ploughed earth that was waiting for its next crop of oats to be planted. Quiet beauty! It ‘spoke to me’, telling me, that today, life will not be one of enthusiastic climbing of mountains but one of peaceful pleasures. I can hear the family stirring, morning has begun. Good morning J. Reg has got up, J He is ‘in his routine’, J the morning TV has been put on, he is in his armchair, Indigo the poodle has settled on to the sofa. Good morning from Reg, Indigo and me.   Bendigo Pottery … Australia's Oldest Working Pottery Reg and I visited Bendigo Pottery on Saturday. It has changed in many ways since our previous visits but it is more hands on these days allowing creative interactive experiences. I loved viewing the working pottery environment and the historical section of the old bottle kilns and pottery industrial supplies it fired my memories of my own decades of creative work with clay. Clay Activities FUN WITH CLAY - In the potters' workshop area is a Clay Play area for kids to try some hand building or sculpting. Pick up a Clay Play Kit from the sales counter $3.00. WHEEL THROWING LESSONS - Try your hands on the wheel; book a lesson with a skillful potter. $12.00 per half hour, $18.00 per hour. Bookings recommended, especially during school holidays. Group inquiries welcome. Lessons are available daily at 10, 11, ,12, 1.30, 2.30 and 3.30. To Book a Lesson Phone 0354484404 or email bpottery@bendigo.net.au     Reg and I had a good drive home to northern Victoria from the Grampians. We had an interesting stop over at Bendigo Pottery and I took photos to share in my blogs of the historical pottery. We arrived home to find my autumn roses in flower and my potatoes ready to harvest. I have had a quick check and aside from some climbing roses needing a good tie back, all looks good after the storm that went through this area about a month ago while we were away. I freshened up and popped my feet up and I am now enjoying that I have full bars of internet connection on my computer so I will be able to do my internet work a lot faster, J and enjoy it more. Do those promised competition prize giveaways for my Kathy Shell fans. A quick look through the five weeks of accumulated mail which included an overdue gas bill, (oops), the dog registration due, three parcels to be collected, and a free life insurance quote, nothing too eventful there. I am sitting here relaxing for a short time, and thinking about what exercise I will do now I do not have those wonderful Grampians mountain ranges outside my caravan door. I am also deciding where to start on the many things I want to do while at home base, before resuming our tour. I want to catch up with my daughter and her family who live in this area soon J and I plan to pack more art supplies than I took with me on tour, the first time.. I had packed and took away on this trip, the pastels, acrylics, watercolours and guess what happened? I felt like painting in oils. Lol, Is that the artist’s prerogative? OK, where do I make a start? I have illustrated this post with some of my favorite photos from the Grampians.                      Aboriginal Rock Art and Natures Rock Art. 03/22/2010
 This week, Reg and I will be revisiting some of the sites in the Grampians, that feature aboriginal rock art, that we have visited in the past and look forward to including these sites in our walks during this, our last week in the Grampians for a while. These sites are- Bunjil's Shelter One of the most important aboriginal rock art sites in the region this site depicts Bunjil, the traditional creator of the land, and his two dingoes. Bunjil was known as a good spirit who created things as they are today and gave the tribes their law and culture. 11 kilometres from Stawell and sign posted off the Stawell-Pomonal Road Gulgurn Manja Shelter Gulgurn Manja means 'hands of young people'. The Gulgurn Manja Shelter displays small hand prints in red ochre. Signage outlines some of the stories and legends of the Jardwadjali people and the mountains they call Gariwerd. Mt Zero Road, Northern Grampians Ngamadjidj Shelter Take this self-guided walk to an Aboriginal art site that depicts the dancing spirit with white painted figures. The walk from the car park to Ngamadjidj Shelter is short and suitable for people with limited mobility. Plantation Road and Grampians Road, Northern Grampians Billimina Shelter Start this walk at the Buandik camping ground and follow Billiamina Creek upstream to the Buandik Falls. From there a short walk leads you to the shelter. This massive rock overhang was once a meeting place for the Jardwadjali people, and is covered with over 2,500 motifs that consist of red ochre bar strokes. Billywing Road off Henty Highway, Western Grampians Manja Shelter This fascinating large rock shelter is on the western side of the Grampians. Manja symbolises the link between the Jardwadjali and their land. It is believed, that the hand stencils were a way of recording a visit to this incredible rock overhang. This rock site also has more hand stencils than any other site in Victoria. Off Harrap Track via Glenelg River Road and Henty Highway, Western Grampians  The Rocks themselves are nature’s art Everywhere we look in the Grampians, we are awestruck by the beauty of the shapes and textures of the rocks. My imagination sees shapes within the rock forms, in fact there are rocks called the ‘Indian’, and 'Elephant’s Hide.’  The massive rock know as the Elephants Hide, viewed from Boroka Lookout, Grampians, Victoria. Old Building in a Rural Setting. 03/21/2010
 I have had some wonderful excursions in the Grampians this week. Reg and I have enjoyed ourselves so much we have booked to stay at the Grampians Gardens Tourist Park for another week and we will be putting Indigo into day care, every few days to go on one of the longer bush walks together.  In the Stawell to Halls Gap Road, there was this derelict house in a rural setting that makes a perfect subject for an artist to paint. I stopped to take photographs and was amazed that, with the house in such disrepair, the door was still intact on its Door Hinge. I loved the Door Handles made from old twisted wire.           Caricature Art. 03/20/2010
 Some subjects lend themselves to both caricature or traditional treatment by the artist.  An artist’s caricature usually refers to a portrait that exaggerates and distorts ways in which one person most differs from what is average looks as seen by the artist. To explain how to caricature, take a look at my face, see where I vary from the Western ideal of the Grecian, goddess, Dianna, the symbol for western beauty and you will instantly see my face is rounder, my nose larger neck shorter and I am older and plumper, and I wear no makeup to enhance, my lips or eyes. So a caricaturist, might make the larger parts of me larger and the less pronounced parts of me, either smaller or more faintly drawn, and that is the simple key to how to caricature. You could also exaggerate the emotion of happiness and the size of my hat, as i usually wear one, you could make the hat, seem to be wearing me . This is the nature of the caricature. The intent is usually humour. I am never comfortable doing that sort of work. I am far to sensitive as I feel t is insulting my model. I would like to 'get over', this hang up because not everyone sees caricature as offensive. How do you feel about it? Legendary animator Walt Disney, equated his animation to caricature, saying the hardest thing to do was find the caricature of an animal that worked best as a human-like character. Caricatures, can be done, with humor. The ‘Annie’, image of the little orphan with freckles is seen as adorable and amusing and if there was a model for the cartoon Annie, I am sure she loved her caricature. I saw an artist at the Royal Melbourne Show, whose work was very popular as he exaggerates the beauty of his subjects. Most caricatures of political figures exaggerate a feature to the point where it is supposed to be humorous or insulting. As an artist I have never been comfortable distorting people’s features, while it is something I can do, I feel like I am offending them in doing this. At the same time, part of me would love to do more of this lighthearted style of artwork as I no longer have the time to do a lot of major realist work.  Caricature and Folk Art also overlap. These examples are fridge magnets I have made, see my fridgemagnetart.com web site to purchase..  I am wondering how other artists and creative people cook meals. The reason for my question is that I own recipe books, my current favourite is the Michelle Bridges, Crunch time, cookbook, but I never follow a recipe, I think I cook like an artist. Lol J ,not sure that’s a s good as a cook and certainly not as elaborate and skilled as a chef, but it works for me. I think of food, like an artist from the time I hit the shops, I love the fresh fruit and veggie department and I buy a rainbow variety of coloured food. The fish, meat and poultry counter has the same attraction to me and I love to mix colours, something cream, this week it was turkey mince, a pink salmon steak, some red strips of beef steak, and then to the pulses and legumes and there were black and yellow legumes added to my trolley. Even my bread, is dotted with texture and colours, lol J. When it comes to planning and preparing the meal, even when I have this lovely array of cookbooks I have read, I do little more than glance at the photos of the meal. My system is look in the garden for any fresh vegetables ready to pick, then open the fridge and see what I have, choose an assorted selection of items that will work well together. I then head to the pantry to add any extras, and pick some fresh herbs from the garden, and then I produce a concoction using any one, of the simplest, of cooking methods, except for deep-frying, which I never do. I probably read nutrition books, more than cook books, and I occasionally amend the food choices I buy as I learn more, this has been successful as aside from taking prenatal multivitamins, when I was younger and pregnant and now that we are seniors, adding some calcium and anti inflammatory fish oil to my diet. I am currently looking into information about managing fibromyalgia, through diet, 10 Food Rules for Pain Patients - fibromyalgia - Health.com, to help Reg, so he can join me on more of the bush walks we love doing together. My colourful palette of food has provided all the nutrition I have needed and I wonder how many other, creative people never ever follow a recipe and manage perfectly well, producing delicious, healthy meals, just treating every meal as its very own, original creative work. I would LOVE to hear your responses to this. How many creative original cooks are out there? Lifelike Drawing in Colored Pencil with Lee Hammond Where the B_____ H___ are We? 03/17/2010
 Reg and I just returned from a steady paced nine-kilometer bush walk, up and down hills. The instructions in the map said to ask at the General store in the country town for the detailed map. We did, and the store owner was rather vague about the walk, said it had, just been cleared, so it was passable and she had no brochures left. We set of, happily, in the direction she said, to go and this was backed up by the information on the map we carried so we were quite happy at that stage.  As I got within view of the mountain range we were supposed to scale in what was described, on the map, as a medium difficulty walk and rock scramble, I was having a few doubts about Reg’s choice of a walk, I did not think he was ready to tackle it.  After four kilometers and still nowhere near the mountain range base, I could see that, the information on the map was incorrect. This was no 3.8 kilometer walk over a mountain range as we had already covered a greater distance than that and I was concerned looking at the steepness of the mountain about Reg’s ability to climb it, so I suggested we turn back. Reg agreed that was a good idea. It proved to be a very good idea.  We were walking back the way we thought we had come, when we got to one of the many forks in the unsignposted, bush track and Reg, wanted to go to the right and I wanted to go left. He was so certain, I let him lead, and I think he was actually right at that point, I am not sure where we took the wrong turn. I knew there was a main road out on our left somewhere and we could always find our way out, by turning left. Just the same, when you begin to walk through areas you have not seen before on unsignposted bush tracks I do find it unnerving. Lol, we were not lost, we just had no idea, J, exactly where we were  We were within 5 kilometers of a little country store, somewhere vaguely to the left, or was that left right or right left? I steered us left and we found a road, not one we knew, this took us to the main road, not sure which way to turn from there, left or right, we turned right, knowing we could stop a car and ask if we needed to. Reg by now was favouring one leg, it had been the longest walk he has done since before he got whooping Cough last August. I was doing fine, the little bit of anxiety at not being sure where we were, had gone, now we were on the main road. Heaps of relief, when the little general store, appeared in the distance. Funny, but as I reached the car, my energy flagged. I felt ready to flop  To think that back in my thirties I never considered going for a two-hour brisk walk and healthy portion controlled eating as the way to becoming and maintaining a slim body, no I looked for solutions that took the work away from me. Diet pills, generic adipex, I think are versions of the phentermine drug, type, products I used to pop, hoping they could make me slim. What a long way, I have come since then. Reg and I probably should have turned back sooner, or not even have gone on that walk when the directions were so vague. I did follow the safety rule of making sure someone knew where we were going, by telling the people in the general store we were going to do the walk and I left our car parked in sight of the store so people would have known if we had had a problem and not returned. While the walk was not as we expected, we both feel great now, knowing we had a great exercise session, and we are both steadily improving in fitness each day with the exercise challenges we are giving ourselves.  I have illustrated this blog post about today’s walk with images of the art fridge magnets I have made from landscape paintings I have done. I saw some views, today, I would love to paint. How will I paint it, Impressionist style or romantic realist? I favour impressionist style and Reg and most of the public prefer romantic realism. When I begin a painting, the scene dictates to me, how it wants to be painted.  Lifelike Drawing in Colored Pencil with Lee Hammond On Line Study. 03/15/2010
 The two artists, who visited me today, asked me, ‘what advice I would give a starting out artist’. I said, ‘get a qualification, preferably in an essential service. My reasoning is that if you have a profession to fall back on should times be tough, you will be able to respect your art, enough to not fall into the financial crisis trap of painting trashy bread and butter paintings. Art needs to be, kept free, of financial pressure to be ‘art’. Work done under financial pressure to produce income becomes craft, skilled craft at best, manufactured product, at its, worst. Artist integrity is easiest to maintain when the basic essentials of life, are secure, due to having professional qualifications. Even if you become financially successful artist, and never use the qualifications you earn, professionally, an education, is never, wasted.  Lifelike Drawing in Colored Pencil with Lee Hammond | Follow me on Facebook at @ Kathy Shell
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